Georgia State Route 316
State Route 316, also known as University Parkway, or Georgia 316, is a state highway that exists in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It links the Atlanta metropolitan area with Athens, home of the University of Georgia.
The first of the state highway is a freeway, but the rest of the route is an at-grade expressway with traffic signals with the exception of its junction with SR 81 east of Bethlehem.
Despite SR 316 being concurrent with US 29 for most of its route, the road is nearly always referred to by its state route designation, while US 29 is usually associated with its original route.
SR 316 could possibly be extended as a freeway from its Buford Drive exit to the Athens Perimeter on its current route, intersecting roads like Winder Highway, Sugarloaf Parkway, SR 81, SR 53, and US 78/SR 10.
Route description
Gwinnett County
SR 316 begins at an interchange with Interstate 85 exit 106, west of Lawrenceville. The route heads east, and then northeast, to interchange with US 29/SR 8/SR 120 where US 29/SR 8 joins with SR 316. Then, the three routes have interchanges with Riverside Parkway, Sugarloaf Parkway, and Collins Hills Road/SR 20/SR 124, all in Lawrenceville. Then the route becomes an at-grade highway. Northeast of the city is where SR 8 continues to the northeast, concurrent with US 29 Bus. From then on, the speed limit is raised from 55 to 65 miles per hour. US 29/SR 316 continues to head east into rural Gwinnett County. Next, there is an interchange with the Sugarloaf Parkway freeway extension. The last major intersection is at Harbins Road. Finally, the road heads over the Appalachee River into rural Barrow County.Barrow County
South of Winder, the two routes meet SR 81 at an interchange. To the east, at Bethlehem, is an intersection with SR 11. Then they encounter SR 53 and the northern terminus of US 29 Bus. southeast of Winder where SR 8 rejoins with US 29/SR 316 and at Statham they intersect SR 211.Oconee County
Southeast of Bogart, the three routes intersect US 78/SR 10, which come in from the southwest. At the intersection, SR 10 continues to the northeast, concurrent with US 78 Bus., while the US 78 mainline joins the US 29/SR 8/SR 316 concurrency. US 29/US 78/SR 8/SR 316 intersect SR 10 Loop/SR 422 southwest of Athens. Here, SR 316 has its eastern terminus, while US 29/US 78/SR 8 join SR 10 Loop/SR 422 in a concurrency to the east.History
The first portion of the highway was completed as a freeway to Lawrenceville in 1960, after the city was bypassed by I-85. With the subsequent expansion of Atlanta into its eastern suburbs, travel between the capital and Athens became increasingly difficult as highways US 29 and US 78 were both routed through multiple business districts. Over the next decades, the state completed SR 316 in sections, weaving along the original route of US 29 in order to bypass communities and business districts, including Winder and the congested Atlanta Highway in Athens. On October 22, 2020, the highway's junction with SR 81 was upgraded to an interchange. The project to upgrade the junction cost 26.4 million dollars.In 2024, US 29/SR 8 was rerouted from an intersection of Winder Highway about to enter Lawrenceville to join with SR 316’s interchange with SR 120. Prior to 2024, US 29/SR 8 formerly meet SR 316 at an intersection northeast of town, where SR 8 continues straight along with north beginning of US 29 Bus. to Downtown Winder while US 29 turns right on SR 316 to bypass Winder.